Observers were evolved humans from the future. In an attempt to study their evolution, they utilize the technology of their time period (which allows them to travel through time and space). Quite literally, they exist "outside" of time. They are from one possible future. In this future, the world is damaged beyond repair and unsustainable. Their endgame was to rise to a position of totalitarian power, which they assumed in 2015.

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Observers are humans that were created in 2167. The Observers are stoic, calm, and monotone. Observers are very pale, bald, lack eyebrows, and wear black suits, usually accompanied by black fedoras. Scientists in Oslo, Norway were experimenting with the human brain in 2167. They discovered that they could remove areas of the brain that stimulated aggression and other negative emotions and replace them with rational thought. However, over time, areas of good emotions, like love, were removed in favor of higher intelligence. Over the course of many years, Observers populated the Earth.

A fully grown Observer in a tank.

Observers were grown in tanks using the DNA of designated donors, causing there to be no necessity for females. Progenies were grown at accelerated rates. However, every so often, progenies would become mutated. These anomalies had their aging process halted and were scheduled for extermination.

By the year 2609, the Observers had ruined the planet. To rectify this, a plan was put into place that involved going back in time and taking the planet from modern-day humans.

The first wave of Observers were the scientists. They were told that their job was to study the evolution of the Observers by witnessing key moments in history. The twelve members of the science team were not told about the plan for Invasion. They were only needed to alter the timeline in favor of their own evolution. The superior observers must have known that one of them would cause Peter Bishop to live and prevent an alternate future using the machine. Observers were given codenames, each corresponding to a month in the year. Due to their close proximity to humanity, they even began to develop emotional responses, which they swore to never tell to their superiors.

On the night that Walternate discovered the cure for Peter, September, who went to witness the moment, distracted him, causing him to miss the indicator. September deemed this event significant to the Observers' evolution. This set off a chain of events that September was told never should have happened: Walter fracturing the universes, the war between the universes, the Olivias being swapped out, and Peter's love affair with Fauxlivia, culminating in the birth of Henry Dunham, a child that never should have been born. In the proper order, Henrietta would have been born. The Observers deemed this deviation too severe because they knew that Peter would just be a threat after the use of the Vacuum and wanted to make sure Peter stayed erased following the deviation of the timeline.

Their appearances increased at an alarming rate following the first events of the Pattern. Phillip Broyles disclosed to Agent Olivia Dunham that the FBI had been tracking the Observers for quite some time. He explains that a team had been tracking one particular Observer, September, for over a year. The team nicknamed him The Observer, suggesting they were not aware of there being multiple Observers. He had been seen at countless Pattern related events, the one gaining Olivia's attention being his tracking of The Beacon. The Observer enlisted in Walter's help in protecting the Beacon from John Mosley. When a child that resembled an Observer was found, September and the Child seemed upset as the car taking the child to an adoptive family drove away. The Observer was also tracked by Nina Sharp and Massive Dynamic, who were aware of his appearances increasing in frequency. Nina suggested it had happened once before, but gave no indication of what events transpired as a result. Just before David Robert Jones opened a doorway to the other universe, September came to Walter's lab and told him, "It is time." Walter left immediately with the Observer, who took him to Walter's old beach house, where Walter was able to obtain a device that would close a portal to the other universe, preventing Jones from crossing over.

Following a series of attacks that he perpetrated, Raymond Gordon confessed to attempting to kill couriers. These couriers delivered briefcases full of information to the Observers. One such case was delivered to September and contained photographs of Walter Bishop. Gordon claimed that the Observers were here to exterminate the universe. Later, August intervened with the death of Christine Hollis. He was supposed to rectify his mistake, but Christine lived- causing her to become important. At the end of these events, September and December observed Olivia, claiming things would soon get very hard for her.

September brought Bobby Joyce forward in time to speak with his father. This was a part of an elaborate experiment designed to see if Walter would be willing to let Peter go. This chain of events prevented Walter from dying by drinking a poisoned milk. The milk was instead drunk by Peter, who Walter was able to save. If Walter drank the milk, no one would have been able to save him.

Observers gathered on Liberty Island

A group of ten observers gathered on Liberty Island to observe the disappearance of Peter Bishop.

Following Peter Bishop's disappearance, December tasked September with the job of ensuring that Peter stayed erased, as echoes of him still existed. September later constructed a device to erase him completely, but at the last moment decided not to use it.

Later, Peter reappears naked in Reidan Lake in the present, while September watches. When the Fringe Division takes him in for questioning, they reveal that they have no knowledge of the Observers in this timeline, and Peter determines the key difference in the timeline is that September did not rescue Walter and Peter from drowning in the Reidan Lake in 1985, and while Walter survived, Peter did not.

Olivia aided Peter in his journey to the Other Side and awaits his return in the Orpheum Theatre. While waiting, she is met by September, who is suffering from a gunshot wound. He warns Olivia that he has seen all possible futures and that she dies in all of them. Olivia decides to take him to a hospital, turns to get her coat, and finds September has vanished.

A device was lost by September when he did not save Peter in 1985 in the new timeline. It was recovered by Neil Chung, who was able to see the future and kill people in a way that he considered merciful. The device was retrieved by March and December, who at this point realize that Peter Bishop has returned and that September had not followed his orders to ensure Peter's full removal from time. They all look for September, so he can explain why he had not followed his orders.

In 2015, the Observers seized control, supposedly made possible by the studies of the scientists. Their future world in 2609 was damaged beyond repair, so they returned to earlier times to enforce a dictatorial style of rule over the world. They struck down upon civilians, who were later termed "natives." The Fringe Division was restructured to police the Natives following a failed uprising. A secret branch of Fringe Division began forming a rebellion, including Etta and Simon, who began searching for the former Fringe Team members encased in amber.

In the year 2036, the Observers maintained supreme control of the earth. They paved over Central Park in New York and created machines that pump carbon monoxide into the atmosphere in order to adjust it to levels similar to those in 2609. The return of the Fringe Team marked a significant turning point in the Observer overlords' plans. The Fringe Team joined the Resistance and became empowered and more motivated after Windmark murdered Henrietta. Several close run ins ended with the insurgents escaping, leaving the Observers reeling from the attacks as the Fringe Division began implementing Walter's Plan.

In 2036, the Fringe team returned to implement Walter's Plan. This plan required Michael, an anomaly to be sent forward in time to the year 2167, when the beginnings of what would eventually become the Observers were first created. He would show these scientists that they did not need to sacrifice emotion to evolve the Observers- that there had to be another way. The time machine was created by Walter, Olivia, Peter, Astrid, and September/Donald. After September was shot and killed, Walter took Michael to 2167 himself, sacrificing his life with his son for the betterment of the world. The plan was successful, reset time, and prevented an Invasion. It is never specified whether or not the Observers were completely averted or if new Observers were created in Michael's image and given emotion.

Observer abilities are mostly due to futuristic technology. An implant in the back of the head aids their abilities. An implant can be given to anyone by making an incision. The implant then makes its way into the body, allowing that person to exhibit Observer-like abilities, which include enhanced vision, teleportation, and calculative precognition. The technology begins to form new ridges in the brain to enhance rational thinking, referred to as "controlled evolution", consequently destroying emotion centers and with it a person's sense of humanity. This loss of feeling relates to both emotion as well as senses like taste. After an unspecified amount of time, the changes to the brain become permanent. However some Observers such as August and September are shown to have emotion, or at least an inkling of it. As later seen with September, the effects of the implant might be reversible through an experimental de-evolution procedure developed by the Observers. Observers have been seen with seemingly vintage binoculars, but in reality, they are extremely high-tech.

September's binoculars

August's cell phone

Another device that the Observers have access to is a strange communication device, almost like a cell phone. The phone displays The Circles

The Beacon

and has strange symbols to type with. Lastly, another piece of technology the Observers are known to be associate with is The Beacon. September was tracking the Beacon's arrival, which according to him, was on time, as well as its departure. The Beacon serves as a way for removed Observers to return to the Universe. How or why this is possible is still unknown.

September was able to fashion a device that would erase the remaining fragments of Peter Bishop from time using machine parts found at a local pawn shop.

Besides the confirmed Observers, other characters have been seen that could possibly be Observers,

the first being John Mosley. Also bald, but not nearly as emotionless and with eyebrows (which were confirmed to be fake), Mosley was in pursuit of The Beacon, which September was committed to track and ensure the safety of. Mosley has also been called "The Rogue" by production, and when asked if we would see more rogue Observers "aka. John Mosley", the producers did not deny that he was indeed a rogue Observer, only stating that the audience would soon learn exactly what a rogue Observer is, leading many fans to speculate that Mosley is indeed a rogue Observer. Later on, The Child was found by a demolition company. The child was bald and seemed to be particularly in-tune with emotions, especially agent

A Child Observer

Olivia Dunham's, similar to other Observers seen. Later on, when the child was taken away to an adoptive family, the car was driven past September, who looked concerned. The Child seemed to take notice, and turned around in his seat to watch him until he was out of sight. The Child was confirmed to be a Child Observer in 2036 when the Fringe team discovered a pocket universe that Walter designed to keep him safe in.

In 2036, Peter Bishop implanted Observer technology into his head. He began to use the abilities granted to him to fight the Observers and avenge Henrieta's death. However, in his lapse of judgment, Peter failed to fully think through the consequences. He began to slowly lose touch with his humanity, his voice slowly became monotone, and clumps of his hair have started to fall out. Peter eventually removed the implant from the back of his head after being convinced by Olivia that Etta was always with them in spirit. Her love convinced him to keep in touch with his humanity and find another way to put an end to the Observers. He was able to remove the implant before the effects became permanent.

Assassins- Assassins such as Donald Long rectify the most extreme cases of adjustment. In the case of Christine Hollis, who should have died on an airplane, Long attempted to murder her and correct the natural course of events.

Loyalists- Loyalists defected to the Observers in 2015. They are branded with the Observers' language on their cheeks and enforce laws.